


Recovering

by ClaraCivry (Kat_Of_Dresden)



Category: The Magnificent Seven (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Billy and Goodnight live AU, Feels, Hurt/Comfort, Major Character Injury, Whump, a whole lot of whump, the gang has a lot of feelings, they are alive of course they are
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-29
Updated: 2016-09-29
Packaged: 2018-08-18 14:01:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8164445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kat_Of_Dresden/pseuds/ClaraCivry
Summary: Goodnight and Billy didn't die in that bell tower. They were just very badly hurt.This tells the story of how they were found and started recovering from the battle.





	

Of course everyone thought they were dead, they had to be after being hit with so many bullets. It was impossible to be alive with so much iron in their bodies. Or so they thought.

Maybe it was because they were in a church and someone up there was on their side, maybe because they were too stubborn to go so easily, but both Goodnight and Billy survived the shower of bullets, even if everyone had assumed they were dead. A villager first noticed as he was moving Billy's body and heard something, and saw some blood going down, a still bleeding wound.

"Can't be" the boy thought. "It's just my imagination. Wishful thinking."

But then the body made another sound, soft, almost inaudible, but it was there, and with the movement another wound bled more profusely. But how? Dead bodies didn't moan, their wounds didn't bleed anymore. Startled, the boy checked all vital signs he knew (pulse, breathing) and realised that yes, that figure with five gunshot on him was not a body but still a man.

"Help!" he yelled from the church's bell tower. "This one's alive!"

He hastily broke off some bits of his shirt and bandages the gunshot wound he could see, as Billy's most prominent danger now was bleeding out.

"Help is coming, don't worry." The boy said to the still man, hoping for the best.

That's when the boy saw the other body and decided to check he was dead too.

His eyes widened.

"They're both alive!" He screamed. "Find the physician, anyone who can help, and bring them, quick!"

Yes, indeed, they were both alive, due to a wonderful and unlikely pile of events. All the shots had avoided their heart and head, and most of the vital organs. Billy had been hit near a lung, but not in it. All the bullets missed main arteries, and two of them where stopped by Billy's and Goodnight's metal objects, such as knives. Yes, that stupid first knife Billy had given Goodie for his birthday had been a determining factor in saving his life.

The remaining seven, Emma, Teddy and a bunch of villagers set everything in motion to make sure those two stayed alive despite their heinous injuries. They gathered all the people who had even the smallest medical knowledge and cleared some tables from the saloon that worked as makeshift operating tables.

After that moment of hope, finding them alive, things were looking bad again. Even though they'd miraculously managed to make it to end of the battle alive, there were too many wounds, too many bleeds and not enough qualified people and nearly no supplies to do a proper job with all those injuries. Still, the people from Rose Creek were motivated and adamant to save those men the way they had saved them, and managed to get all the bullets out and stop the bleeding the best they could.

Now they were both thoroughly bandaged but still out of it, still on those tables that had become beds, as the physicians didn't want to move either of them yet. Sam was sat next Goodnight's bed, willing his old friend to live. They'd already lost two great men that day, he didn't want to lose him too.

Fortunately, a couple of hours after they were done with him, Goodnight even opened his eyes if only for a bit. He was in excruciating pain, all his limbs protesting, he didn't exactly know where he was and couldn't recall what had happened. Everything was a bit of a blur.

Someone was in front of him, looking worried. A figure he vaguely recognised from his world of pain and shadows.

"You back with us?"

The voice said, and some part of him recognised it. It was Sam, Sam Chisholm. They had been facing Bogue and he'd come back after leaving to warn people about the miner's death machine. They were in the bell tower when they got hit, and apparently he'd made it out alive, if not unscathed.

And then all his alarms went off.

He tried to speak, but it was hard. Still, he needed to know.

"Billy...?"

"He's alive." Sam's calm voice said, and suddenly everything was a million times better.

He closed his eyes again with relief etched on his features.

In the table/bed next to his, Billy wasn't in great shape, but he was hanging in there too. A hard to kill man, even if he was filled with scars. He was a bit worse off than his partner because of an impact to the side that had caused many problems, but still, he could make it. He hadn't woken a single time since they found him, even though he occasionally let out a little whimper or moan.

There was a silent figure next to him, cleaning his sweat, making sure nothing went too wrong. Red Harvest didn't know a lot about Mister Rocks but had a lot of respect for him. Like him, he had to endure the constant hatred and suspicion from the white man. Like him, he'd been separated from those who were his kin. Like him, he had a different style of fighting that didn't consist only in guns. Like him, he'd chosen a different path. The Asian man was skillful, brave and still caring and thoughtful with the people he cared about. Billy Rocks was in a way what Red Harvest aspired to be, and he really wished that he would live.

That night, when everyone was sleeping, Vasquez went by the Saloon to see how their injured friends were doing. He'd been drinking himself to a stupor, mourning Faraday's death and wondering what his place was now everything was over. Now he just stayed on the frame of the door, watching, looking at his fallen friends, all bandages, and to Sam and Red Harvest next to them, as if they were some sort of guardian angels. He prayed to the Virgin his mother used to pray, back in Mexico, and hoped for the best.

The next day was a bittersweet one. On the one hand, the townspeople were returning to their houses, rebuilding the damaged constructions and for once, starting to live in something that wasn't fear. Goodnight, although still very weak, felt much better and his life didn't seem to be in danger anymore. Sam smiled, was thanked, and they received many tokens of gratitude from the townspeople. The calm after the storm.

On the other hand, Horne and Faraday were still dead, along with several of their men from Rose Creek and they had to be buried, funeral arrangements, mourning, that clouded the otherwise joyful spirit of the town. Billy hadn't woken up yet and was developing a fever. His whimpers were louder now, and it absolutely broke Goodie's heart to know that Billy, _his Billy_ , was suffering, and he couldn't do a thing to stop it. Knowing and hearing that Billy was hurting pained him more than any injury could.  

Billy stayed like that, in a precarious balance between life and death, plagued by fever, infections and nightmares from which he never quite woke up, for four days and four nights, in which the funerals for the fallen were held, many tears were shed, the bullet holes were filled and the town went back to something that resembled normalcy. Sam and Vasquez helped with the reconstruction and acted as sheriff while a new one was elected, while Red Harvest and Goodnight were planted next to Billy's bedside, managing his fever, keeping him clean and cool and as comfortable as possible.

Goodnight spent all the time he was out of his own bed holding Billy's hand - he needed to let him know that he was there for him, next to him, with him through everything.

On the fifth day, his fever broke for the last time, and Billy Rocks opened his eyes.

"Hey, you." Goodnight's voice said next to him, that familiar and very welcome sound. "We made it."

The first thing Billy did after waking up was smile. 

Goodie smiled back, as did the rest of the magnificent gathered there. 

_ We made it. _

**Author's Note:**

> They aren't dead, of course they aren't. Obviously Goody and Billy are life partners but I may be the only person who wants Red Harvest and Billy to be friends, but I want them to be friends for some reason. 
> 
> Anyways, feedback is love and is super appreciated! :)


End file.
